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ALDERSHOT’S snooker hotshot Ryan Mears has picked up his first tournament win on the Cuestars South of England Championship Tour.
The 21-year-old pocketed the £150 top prize and jumped seven places to second in the rankings after beating Southampton’s Alex Dunkley in the event-four final at Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon.
He wrapped up the 3-1 victory with a difficult long blue played left-handed.
And Mears, who beat runaway rankings leader Matt Wilson 3-1 in the last four, earned the praise of the High Wycombe star.
Wilson said: “I was disappointed to lose to Ryan but he played well, and it didn’t surprise me when I heard he won the final.”
Tip problems threatened to disrupt Mears’ build-up to the high-quality tournament.
Following a local league singles knockout match two days before the trip, his old tip fell off and he spent the next afternoon breaking in a new one.
And things were not looking good as Mears lost his first round-robin group match 2-0 Richard Clark (Swindon). However, he knocked in a 60 in a 2-0 win against Kieran Gell (Gosport) and reversed a 2-0 defeat by Mark Green (Salisbury) in the quarter-finals in Poole last month.
Mears qualified for the knockout in second place with a 2-0 victory and a 75 against Troy Paul (Swindon).
After a 2-1 win over Seb Worrall (Swindon) in the last 16, Mears beat Adam Nash (Southampton) 3-2. It was the fourth time this season he had accounted for Nash from 2-1 down.
Meanwhile, Wilson, 26, on a break of 104, missed a black with one red left in the second frame of a 3-0 quarter-final win over Mike Finn (Eastleigh).
“I wasn’t that fussed about it,” he explained. “I know how good a player Mike can be and keeping him off the table for the majority of the three frames was more satisfying than the 146 would have been.”
A 40-strong field chalked up a season record total of 32 breaks of more than 50.
The Swindon tournament was the fourth in a series of eight across the South of England. Remaining fixtures: February 14, Salisbury SC; March 21, Jesters SC, Swindon; April 18, Salisbury SC; May 16, Jesters SC, Swindon.
The prize pot for the end-of-season play-off now stands at £162 with four events still to play.
BREAKS:
Matt Wilson: 104, 90, 80, 77, 71, 65, 60, 51
Neil Craycraft: 95, 74, 52
Mike Finn: 94, 92, 62, 58
Alex Dunkley: 86, 61, 57, 56
Alex O’Donoghue: 79, 69, 55, 55, 52
Ryan Mears: 75, 60, 58, 57, 56
Christian Chislett: 73
Kevin Ward: 60
Sebastian Worrall: 52
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP POSITIONS:
GROUP A: 1st, Nathan Williams (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Adam Nash (Woolston Cons Club); 3rd, Davis Hui (Churchills, Eastleigh); 4th, James Dew (Sussex); 5th, Drew Farminer (Woolston Cons).
GROUP B: 1st, Alex O’Donoghue (Swindon); 2nd, Craig Hollick (Jesters SC, Swindon); 3rd, Alan Grainger (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 4th, J Facey; 5th, John Smith (The Academy, Eastleigh).
GROUP C: 1st, Richard Clarke (Swindon); 2nd, Ryan Mears (Rileys, Aldershot); 3rd, Troy Paul (147 SC, Swindon) 4th, Mark Green (Salisbury); 5th, Kieran Gell (Stoke SC, Gosport).
GROUP D: 1st, Sebastian Worrall (Swindon SC); 2nd, Phil Wildman (147 SC, Swindon); 3rd, Zack Richardson (Moulsecoomb Social Club, Brighton); 4th, Kevin Impett (Chandler’s Ford SC); 5th, Michael Collier (Pulborough SC, West Sussex).
GROUP E: 1st, Alex Dunkley (Stubbington SC); 2nd, Christian Chislett (Selsey RBL); 3rd, Vernon Li (Aldershot); 4th, Ollie Tydeman (Woolston Cons); 5th, Gavin Cook (147 SC, Swindon).
GROUP F: 1st, Matt Wilson (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 2nd, Christopher Richards (Roath Labour Club); 3rd, Marc Harman (The Royal Surrey Poker & Snooker Club); 4th, Sam Jefferson (Jesters SC, Swindon); 5th, Alan Childs (Salisbury SC).
GROUP G: 1st, Neil Craycraft (147 SC, Swindon); 2nd, Mike Finn (Woolston Cons); 3rd, Jack Lander (Q Ball, Eastbourne); 4th, Dean Matthews (Rileys, Reading); 5th, Richard Cooper (Jesters SC, Swindon).
GROUP H: 1st, Lewis Miles (Jesters SC, Swindon); 2nd, Mark McLean (Churchills, Eastleigh); 3rd, Liam Tinne (Salisbury SC); 4th, Kevin Ward (Hassocks Mens Club, West Sussex); 5th, Trevor Thorn (Basingstoke Conservative Club).
KNOCKOUT:
LAST-16 (five points, £10): Hollick beat Williams 2-0, Wildman beat Clark 2-1, Dunkley beat Richards 2-0, Craycraft beat McLean 2-0, Nash beat O’Donoghue 2-1, Mears beat Worrall 2-1, Wilson beat Chislett 2-0, Finn beat Miles 2-0.
QUARTER-FINALS (eight points, £20): Hollick beat Wildman 3-1, Dunkley beat Craycraft 3-2, Mears beat Nash 3-2, Wilson beat Finn 3-0.
SEMI-FINALS (12 points, £40): Dunkley beat Hollick 3-2, Mears beat Wilson 3-1.
FINAL (25/18 points, £150/£80): Mears beat Dunkley 3-1.
About Cuestars
Founded 16 years ago by director John Hunter, Cuestars runs grass-root snooker tournaments across the South of England and South Wales.
Competitions take place on Sundays between October and June, and cater for players aged eight to 80 - and in some cases even older!
All Cuestars tournaments, apart from the Team Challenge, are played off scratch. There are no handicaps. Cuestars uses a round-robin format leading to a knockout.
The Cuestars ‘South of England’ Championship Tour, which has no age limit, consists of eight tournaments. The top-16 ranked players will be invited to the end-of-season play-off for the title of Cuestars ‘South of England’ Champion. And the top eight aged 50 and over will play off to find the Cuestars ‘South of England’ Masters Champion.
There are three under-21 tours. Gold is for players with a high break of 60 or more, Silver is for players with a high break between 40-59 and Bronze is for players with a high break of less than 40. After eight tournaments, the top-eight ranked players from each tour will be invited to the end-of-season play-offs to find the Gold, Silver and Bronze ‘South of England’ Junior Champions.
Website: cuestars.uk.com. E-mail John Hunter: john@cuestars.uk.com
Tim Dunkley (World Snooker Association coach)
The 21-year-old pocketed the £150 top prize and jumped seven places to second in the rankings after beating Southampton’s Alex Dunkley in the event-four final at Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon.
He wrapped up the 3-1 victory with a difficult long blue played left-handed.
And Mears, who beat runaway rankings leader Matt Wilson 3-1 in the last four, earned the praise of the High Wycombe star.
Wilson said: “I was disappointed to lose to Ryan but he played well, and it didn’t surprise me when I heard he won the final.”
Tip problems threatened to disrupt Mears’ build-up to the high-quality tournament.
Following a local league singles knockout match two days before the trip, his old tip fell off and he spent the next afternoon breaking in a new one.
And things were not looking good as Mears lost his first round-robin group match 2-0 Richard Clark (Swindon). However, he knocked in a 60 in a 2-0 win against Kieran Gell (Gosport) and reversed a 2-0 defeat by Mark Green (Salisbury) in the quarter-finals in Poole last month.
Mears qualified for the knockout in second place with a 2-0 victory and a 75 against Troy Paul (Swindon).
After a 2-1 win over Seb Worrall (Swindon) in the last 16, Mears beat Adam Nash (Southampton) 3-2. It was the fourth time this season he had accounted for Nash from 2-1 down.
Meanwhile, Wilson, 26, on a break of 104, missed a black with one red left in the second frame of a 3-0 quarter-final win over Mike Finn (Eastleigh).
“I wasn’t that fussed about it,” he explained. “I know how good a player Mike can be and keeping him off the table for the majority of the three frames was more satisfying than the 146 would have been.”
A 40-strong field chalked up a season record total of 32 breaks of more than 50.
The Swindon tournament was the fourth in a series of eight across the South of England. Remaining fixtures: February 14, Salisbury SC; March 21, Jesters SC, Swindon; April 18, Salisbury SC; May 16, Jesters SC, Swindon.
The prize pot for the end-of-season play-off now stands at £162 with four events still to play.
BREAKS:
Matt Wilson: 104, 90, 80, 77, 71, 65, 60, 51
Neil Craycraft: 95, 74, 52
Mike Finn: 94, 92, 62, 58
Alex Dunkley: 86, 61, 57, 56
Alex O’Donoghue: 79, 69, 55, 55, 52
Ryan Mears: 75, 60, 58, 57, 56
Christian Chislett: 73
Kevin Ward: 60
Sebastian Worrall: 52
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP POSITIONS:
GROUP A: 1st, Nathan Williams (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Adam Nash (Woolston Cons Club); 3rd, Davis Hui (Churchills, Eastleigh); 4th, James Dew (Sussex); 5th, Drew Farminer (Woolston Cons).
GROUP B: 1st, Alex O’Donoghue (Swindon); 2nd, Craig Hollick (Jesters SC, Swindon); 3rd, Alan Grainger (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 4th, J Facey; 5th, John Smith (The Academy, Eastleigh).
GROUP C: 1st, Richard Clarke (Swindon); 2nd, Ryan Mears (Rileys, Aldershot); 3rd, Troy Paul (147 SC, Swindon) 4th, Mark Green (Salisbury); 5th, Kieran Gell (Stoke SC, Gosport).
GROUP D: 1st, Sebastian Worrall (Swindon SC); 2nd, Phil Wildman (147 SC, Swindon); 3rd, Zack Richardson (Moulsecoomb Social Club, Brighton); 4th, Kevin Impett (Chandler’s Ford SC); 5th, Michael Collier (Pulborough SC, West Sussex).
GROUP E: 1st, Alex Dunkley (Stubbington SC); 2nd, Christian Chislett (Selsey RBL); 3rd, Vernon Li (Aldershot); 4th, Ollie Tydeman (Woolston Cons); 5th, Gavin Cook (147 SC, Swindon).
GROUP F: 1st, Matt Wilson (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 2nd, Christopher Richards (Roath Labour Club); 3rd, Marc Harman (The Royal Surrey Poker & Snooker Club); 4th, Sam Jefferson (Jesters SC, Swindon); 5th, Alan Childs (Salisbury SC).
GROUP G: 1st, Neil Craycraft (147 SC, Swindon); 2nd, Mike Finn (Woolston Cons); 3rd, Jack Lander (Q Ball, Eastbourne); 4th, Dean Matthews (Rileys, Reading); 5th, Richard Cooper (Jesters SC, Swindon).
GROUP H: 1st, Lewis Miles (Jesters SC, Swindon); 2nd, Mark McLean (Churchills, Eastleigh); 3rd, Liam Tinne (Salisbury SC); 4th, Kevin Ward (Hassocks Mens Club, West Sussex); 5th, Trevor Thorn (Basingstoke Conservative Club).
KNOCKOUT:
LAST-16 (five points, £10): Hollick beat Williams 2-0, Wildman beat Clark 2-1, Dunkley beat Richards 2-0, Craycraft beat McLean 2-0, Nash beat O’Donoghue 2-1, Mears beat Worrall 2-1, Wilson beat Chislett 2-0, Finn beat Miles 2-0.
QUARTER-FINALS (eight points, £20): Hollick beat Wildman 3-1, Dunkley beat Craycraft 3-2, Mears beat Nash 3-2, Wilson beat Finn 3-0.
SEMI-FINALS (12 points, £40): Dunkley beat Hollick 3-2, Mears beat Wilson 3-1.
FINAL (25/18 points, £150/£80): Mears beat Dunkley 3-1.
About Cuestars
Founded 16 years ago by director John Hunter, Cuestars runs grass-root snooker tournaments across the South of England and South Wales.
Competitions take place on Sundays between October and June, and cater for players aged eight to 80 - and in some cases even older!
All Cuestars tournaments, apart from the Team Challenge, are played off scratch. There are no handicaps. Cuestars uses a round-robin format leading to a knockout.
The Cuestars ‘South of England’ Championship Tour, which has no age limit, consists of eight tournaments. The top-16 ranked players will be invited to the end-of-season play-off for the title of Cuestars ‘South of England’ Champion. And the top eight aged 50 and over will play off to find the Cuestars ‘South of England’ Masters Champion.
There are three under-21 tours. Gold is for players with a high break of 60 or more, Silver is for players with a high break between 40-59 and Bronze is for players with a high break of less than 40. After eight tournaments, the top-eight ranked players from each tour will be invited to the end-of-season play-offs to find the Gold, Silver and Bronze ‘South of England’ Junior Champions.
Website: cuestars.uk.com. E-mail John Hunter: john@cuestars.uk.com
Tim Dunkley (World Snooker Association coach)